The battle over the proposed rule to govern roadless areas in Colorado’s eight national forests has turned into a war of words.

Throughout the proposed rule are phrases such as “potential catastrophic event” and “treatment action” that critics say are vague and could open roadless areas to development.

At stake is the fate of at least 300,000 acres of roadless forest that could be open to logging, oil and gas wells, coal-mining roads and ski resort development, according to a consortium of conservation groups.

“The language is too loose, and that’s the kind of thing that leads to litigation,” said Jane Danowitz, public-lands director for the Pew Environment Group.

Both state and federal officials say that the 90-day public comment period on the rule, which ends Oct. 23, is designed to address such concerns.

“If the public identifies those issues, we will address them,” said Sharon Friedman, director of strategic planning for the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain region.

The roadless rule — which covers 4.1 million acres in Colorado’s national forests — is a collaboration between the state and the Forest Service.

Colorado, under former Gov. Bill Owens, and Idaho were the only two states to opt for a Bush administration program to develop state roadless rules. All the other states stuck with a 2001 Clinton administration rule covering 90 million acres. That rule is now in legal limbo after a federal district judge in Wyoming declared it illegal. The environmental legal group Earth Justice says it is going to appeal the decision.

The Colorado rule is based on a state task force petition, and much of the controversial language comes from that document.

Gov. Bill Ritter inherited the task force, and his administration attempted to modify its petition.

“It was a flawed process. It produced a product, and the rule-making is making it worse,” said Dave Petersen, Colorado field director for Trout Unlimited and a task force member.

Among the areas that have drawn criticism and could be revised are:

• A provision allowing roads for livestock management. The aim was to assure access to grazing land, and permitting roads might have been “more than was needed,” according to the Forest Service.

• A provision for allowing roads for wildfire treatment actions based on local community wildfire protection plans. The local plans are too broad and varied, critics and officials say.

• An absence of clear definitions for what constitutes a wildfire “treatment” and a “potential catastrophic event” that could require a road to be built.

“You add it all up, and there look to be big loopholes,” Pew’s Danowitz said.

Another major area of dispute is the allowances for oil and gas drilling, coal mining and ski resorts — affecting about 105,000 acres.

For oil and gas, the issue is leases granted after the 2001 rule, which open additional forest to development.

“We are looking for a fix,” said Mike King, deputy director of the state Department of Natural Resources. “But what we can do will depend on what the lawyers tell us.”

As for the concession for coal exploration and ski areas, King said it represents “a compromise.”

“It is a balance of trying to protect the environment with an eye to local economies,” he said. “We are looking for a middle ground.”

Another concern voiced by critics is the Forest Service’s stated goal of adopting the rule before the Bush administration leaves office.

“It has been very encouraging that the Forest Service and the state are willing to look at these issues,” said Petersen, “but then let’s take the time to do it right.”

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